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The Beijing BJ20 remixes the design of the old BJ212 army off-roader that drew inspiration from... a whole range of army "Jeeps." Photo by Newspress

Retro-style Chinese 4x4 copies...pretty much everything

Beijing Auto's BJ20 pays homage to UAZ and Jeep-inspired army 4x4s

August 6, 2015

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This spring the Shanghai Auto Show again treated visitors to a menagerie of automotive curiosities and wonders, ranging from forgettable family sedans with cryptic alphanumeric names to outright design replicas of vehicles like the Mercedes-Benz G-class. Designs cribbed from western automakers don't surprise industry observers anymore except when there is a bumper crop of such vehicles, but once in a while an original design from a Chinese automaker has the potential to hypnotize and fascinate.

The retro-styled Beijing Auto BJ20 concept was such a vehicle, and it appears that it's headed into production with its wild exterior design largely intact. But what kind of classic off-road vehicle is the BJ20 paying homage to?

The general consensus right now seems to be: all of them. There are overtones of the relatively recent SsangYong Korando here and there, but the BJ20 seems to take its cues from a much older sibling, the BJ212 (see what we meant about alphanumeric names?) The BJ212 was more or less a copy of the Russian UAZ469 army utility truck playing vaguely the same role as the Jeep in the Red Army in the 1960s. Beijing Auto gives it a much more pronounced shoulder line, larger front wheelarches, slabbier sides, a narrower fascia and a slanted rear window.

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The BJ20 pays homage to the design of the Chinese People's Liberation Army BJ212 off-roader from the 1960s, which in turn drew inspiration from Russian, Japanese and American designs. Photo by Newspress

The original -- if it can be called such due to its resemblance to the UAZ -- debuted in 1965 and remained in production with relatively few changes until the 1990s when it was modernized. Instead of borrowing its front fascia from the UAZ 469, the BJ212 borrowed its looks from the American Jeep of the time, and by extension the Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40.

The BJ20 that debuted in Shanghai this year is similarly polytheistic, borrowing the various design elements of old Chinese army off-roaders and melding them into something trying to replicate the feel of the Toyota FJ Cruiser. And that is perhaps the ultimate aim of the BJ220; to replicate the style of its forebears in a package that would appeal to those who would purchase a retro-styled vehicle.

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The BJ20 will go on sale at the end of next year in China. Photo by Newspress

Retro as an automotive design theme has largely passed China by, with Chinese automakers too busy buying or emulating the engineering of Japanese and European rivals to pay attention to passing fads; that said, the debut of HongQi government limousines that revived the looks of the GAZ 21 Volga which they copied decades ago may have hinted to Chinese automakers that retro sells. And that's the experiment that the BJ20 will carry out when it goes on sale.

Carnewschina reports that the BJ20 will offer a turbocharged and a naturally aspirated 1.5-liter four-cylinder when it goes on sale in the fourth quarter of 2016, after appearing in production form at the 2016 Beijing Auto Show. Prices are expected to start at a very reasonable $13,000 in China.

But will Chinese buyers go for a retro off-roader they're likely too young to remember?